Apple tweaks Dock menus in new Snow Leopard beta

Apple on Thursday evening delivered to developers a new build of its forthcoming Snow Leopard operating system that addresses a number of outstanding bugs but also delivers a couple of interface tweaks.

The new build, labeled 10A402a, weighs in at roughly 1.3GB and was distributed via Snow Leopard's Software Update mechanism. It's the second such build to arrive in that manner in as many weeks, signaling ongoing tests to the new version of the system's automatic software updater.

In their brief experiences testing the new build, people familiar with the software claim it to be more responsive overall, as Apple focuses on optimization and stability ahead of a release planned for this fall.

Additionally, developers have noticed a couple of obvious interface tweaks, the first of which has seen the Dock's contextual pop-up menus re-skinned in a charcoal motif with white text. In previous builds, these menus were know to sport the same interface as traditional Finder contextual menus, which include black text on a platinum backdrop.

I installed it last night and while system response has improved a little, still takes longer to boot than 10.5.7. You would think that a 64-bit system that focuses on tweaks wouldn't take so long to boot. Oh well, I am still overall happy with it.

I wonder what else is going to click into place here... perhaps the much discussed iTunes style scroll bars? Nice to see steady progress. SL is no slouch as it is, so good to see further improvements reported...

You almost don't need the Finder with those new Dock menus, for browsing around at least. I suppose you still need it for file management - copying/moving etc, but then file management was always Finder's weak point.

You almost don't need the Finder with those new Dock menus, for browsing around at least. I suppose you still need it for file management - copying/moving etc, but then file management was always Finder's weak point.

Yeah. By default, the hard disks are no longer displayed on the Desktop so it looks like they're trying to get away from the normal file management.

You almost don't need the Finder with those new Dock menus, for browsing around at least. I suppose you still need it for file management - copying/moving etc, but then file management was always Finder's weak point.

Agree - this is the one area I think Apple needs to look a bit closer at the Windows world - I'd like CUT as well as copy and paste, split screen (easier than two windows).